Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Hate group spokesman forgets that his organization has extensive paper trail of homophobia

Yesterday, I posted about the Eliminate Hate campaign, a new initiative designed to bring attention to anti-lgbtq hate groups and the propaganda and actions they take against our community. This morning, an article by Reuters focused on the campaign. It also quoted a spokesman from Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the groups the campaign is targeting:

"ADF doesn't have time to respond to
organizations who do nothing more than call names, create division and
incite violence across the country in order to raise money," spokesman
Greg Scott said in a statement.

That was a nice quote, but allow me to make a few changes. Not to the quote itself, mind you. But just putting in some additions which will bring some irony to Scott's words:

ADF doesn't have time to respond to
organizations who do nothing more than call names,

The international arm of the Alliance Defending Freedom, an
anti-LGBTQ organization that has been labeled a “hate group” by the
Southern Poverty Law Center, sought to intervene in the case, arguing
that states have the right to address transgender rights based on
national contexts and tradition. ADF also argued that the court should not consider the Yogyakarta
Principles, which relate to sexual orientation and gender identity, when
determining if forced sterilization violates transgender people’s human
rights. - European Court demands end to forced sterilization of transgender people, April 11, 2017

The ADF, which has argued that removing anti-LGBT sodomy laws from
criminal codes will pave the way to same-sex marriage, has worked to
keep those laws on the books, but mostly overseas since the U.S. Supreme
Court struck down anti-sodomy laws in this country. The group has
advised anti-LGBT organizations in countries like Belize that were trying to keep the law that criminalized homosexual sex on the books. That law was declared unconstitutional by the Belize Supreme Court in 2016. In other instances, ADF leadership has defended criminalization, as when Benjamin Bull, director of ADF Global, applauded
the Indian Supreme Court’s decision in 2011 that recriminalized
homosexual sex, making it punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The
court did the right thing, Bull said, choosing to “protect society at
large rather than give in to a vocal minority of homosexual advocates.” - Southern Poverty Law Center

and
incite violence . . .

In 2014, Alliance Defending Freedom was one of several anti-lgbtq and religious right hate groups to travel to Russia and meet with Yelena Mizulina, the author of the infamous Russian anti-gay bill:

Mizulina is the head of the Duma’s committee for family, women and children and coauthor of Russia’s new ban on speech in favor of gay rights to minors. The World Congress has been one of the most vocal international defenders of
that law. The fact that the World Congress and its members are working
directly with her to plan an exchange with members of the Russian
parliament shows that the summit’s location in Moscow isn’t just an
accident of geography. In fact, as we have reported,
WCF has built up a structure of activists in Russia to push anti-gay,
anti-choice policies throughout Eastern Europe in the year’s leading up
to the 2014 summit, and it was “activists working with the World
Congress of Families” who invited Brown to speak to the Duma in favor of the adoption ban.

in order to raise money . . .

ADF Boasts A $48 Million-Plus Annual Budget And Over 3,000 “Allied Attorneys.” In
2015, ADF had a $48 million-plus annual budget. In addition to its
staff of over 30 staff lawyers, the group marshals what it calls a
“powerful global network” of over 3,100 ADF-trained “allied attorneys,”
many of whom are expected to provide at least 450 hours of pro bono
services within three years of attending one of ADF’s training programs.
ADF’s elite “Blackstone Fellows” have worked or interned in at least
nine state governments. [Media Matters, 1/25/17; Alliance Defending Freedom, accessed 2/15/17; 2/15/17; 2/15/17; Rewire, 5/13/14]

For all of his deflection, Scott cannot hide the Alliance Defending Freedom's paper trail of homophobia and bigotry.

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 46-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.